Ken Olin

Ken Olin Headshot

Actor • Director • Producer

Birth Date: July 30, 1954

Age: 69 years old

Birth Place: Chicago, Illinois

A dark, handsome, sensitive leading actor of television who, after off-Broadway and TV experience, gained some attention amid stiff competition for his recurring role on two seasons of NBC's "Hill Street Blues." Olin was subsequently saddled with an archetypal soap opera role on CBS' "Falcon Crest" (to which, to his credit, he brought a certain low-keyed conviction): a priest who has a torrid affair with one of his parishioners. It was not until his fourth TV series, the acclaimed ABC drama "thirtysomething," that Olin really found a role that properly showcased his casual sincerity and charm, yuppie Michael Steadman, an advertising executive who introspectively worried about whether he was a good husband, a good father, a good friend, and a good Jew, sometimes simultaneously.

Like Michael Steadman, the product of a divorce, Olin made his Off-Broadway stage debut in 1978 in "Taxi Tales" and played Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1982), the year after making his film debut in "Ghost Story" (1981), playing John Houseman as a young man. He made his TV debut playing a cadet judging the future status of "Women at West Point" (CBS, 1979), and, in 1983, was a ballplayer in the short-lived Steven Bochco NBC series "Bay City Blues." "Hill Street Blues" and "Falcon Crest" followed before "thirtysomething" made Olin a TV star. He played Liz Taylor's agent in "There Must Be a Pony" (ABC, 1986) and starred in the miniseries "I'll Take Manhattan" (CBS, 1987). Olin also played Charles Stuart in "Good Night, Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston" (CBS, 1990), based on the true story of the Boston man who killed his wife and blamed an African American. Olin had his first big screen lead as one of the buddies returning for a wedding in the ensemble reunion movie "Queen's Logic" (1991).

Olin began directing with a 1989 episode of "thirtysomething" and went on to handle six additional assignments. He subsequently branched out into TV-movies, directing "The Broken Cord" (ABC, 1992), about a brain-damaged Lakota Indian adoptee and the first TV-movie produced by the Fox network: "Doing Time on Maple Drive" (1992), about a dysfunctional family, which also offered Jim Carrey his first dramatic role. In 1995, Olin directed Don Johnson in HBO's "In Pursuit of Honor," which chronicled several army officers during World War I who defied orders to slaughter healthy horses. Olin made his feature film directorial debut with "White Fang 2: The Myth of the White Wolf" (1994). He returned to series TV as a police detective in the short-lived, but highly acclaimed CBS drama series "EZ Streets" (1996-97) and again in the short-lived medical drama "L.A. Doctors" (CBS, 1998-99).

Olin is married to actress Patricia Wettig, who also starred on "thirtysomething" (though not as Olin's character's spouse). The duo has worked together in the TV-movies "Cop Killer" (ABC, 1988) and "Nothing But the Truth" (CBS, 1995). Olin was also one of the executive producers of "Kansas," a 1995 ABC TV-movie starring Wettig.

Credits

TrackerStream

Director
Series
2024
88%

TrackerStream

Executive Producer
Series
2024
88%

The Story of Soaps

Actor
Show
2020

Grand HotelStream

Director
Series
2019
74%

The ArrangementStream

Director
Series
2017

This Is UsStream

Director
Series
2016
94%

This Is UsStream

Executive Producer
Series
2016
94%

The Good PlaceStream

Director
Series
2016
97%

ZooStream

Guest Star
Series
2015
82%

Sleepy Hollow: Extras

Actor
Show
2013

The Bonnie Hunt Show

Guest
Talk
2008

Eli StoneStream

Director
Series
2008
60%

Eli StoneStream

Executive Producer
Series
2008
60%

Brothers & SistersStream

Director
Series
2006
79%

Brothers & SistersStream

Executive Producer
Series
2006
79%

Brothers & SistersStream

Guest Star
David Caplan
Series
2006
79%

Criminal Minds: EvolutionStream

Guest Star
Series
2005

Phénomènes

Director
Movie
2003

Phenomenon II

Director
Movie
2003

Breaking News

Executive Producer
Show
2002

AliasStream

Director
Series
2001
86%

AliasStream

Executive Producer
Series
2001
86%

AliasStream

Guest Star
David McNeil
Series
2001
86%

The West WingStream

Director
Series
1999
81%

Judging Amy

Director
Series
1999

Evolution's Child

Actor
James Mydell
Movie
1999

Y2K

Actor
Nick Cromwell
Movie
1999

FelicityStream

Director
Series
1998

L.A. Doctors

Actor
Dr. Roger Cattan
Show
1998

L.A. Doctors

Director
Show
1998

'Til There Was You

Actor
Gregory
Movie
1997

The Advocate's Devil

Actor
Abe Ringel
Movie
1997

EZ Streets

Actor
Det. Cameron Quinn
Show
1996

EZ Streets

Director
Show
1996

Dead by Sunset

Actor
Show
1995

In Pursuit of Honor

Director
Movie
1995

Nothing but the Truth

Actor
Dr. Peter Clayman
Movie
1995

L'Honneur de la cavalerie

Director
Movie
1995

Misterio del Lobo Blanco

Director
Movie
1994

White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf

Director
Movie
1994

Telling Secrets

Actor
Show
1993

Intimidades de Familia

Director
Movie
1992

The Broken Cord

Director
Movie
1992

Doing Time on Maple Drive

Director
Movie
1992

Queens Logic

Actor
Ray
Movie
1991

Asesinato en Boston

Actor
Movie
1990

Good Night, Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston

Actor
Charles Stuart
Movie
1990

A Stoning in Fulham County

Actor
Jim Sandler
Movie
1988

Police Story: Cop Killers

Actor
Officer Manny Mandell
Movie
1988

Sucedió En Fulham

Actor
Movie
1988

thirtysomething

Actor
Michael Steadman
Series
1987
83%

The Game of Love

Actor
Henry Fox
Movie
1987

Tonight's the Night

Actor
Henry Fox
Movie
1987

La Grande passion

Actor
Movie
1987

Esta Noche es la Noche

Actor
Movie
1987

There Must Be a Pony

Actor
Jay Savage
Movie
1986

Murder, She WroteStream

Guest Star
Perry Revere
Series
1984

Super porte-avions

Actor
Movie
1984

The Hitchhiker

Actor
Show
1983

Hotel

Guest Star
Soap
1983

Falcon CrestStream

Actor
Father Christopher
Soap
1981

Hill Street BluesStream

Actor
Harry Garibaldi
Series
1981
97%

Hill Street BluesStream

Guest Star
Harry Garibaldi
Series
1981
97%

Ghost StoryStream

Actor
Young James
Movie
1981
29%

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